Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday 31st July
Abbot Paul • July 30, 2022
Message from Fr Paul for Sunday, 31st July 2022
Even when using parables to get his message across, Jesus is inevitably blunt and direct in telling people what he thinks and in giving them an answer to the questions they ask. Think of the man in the crowd in today’s Gospel, who asks Jesus, “Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance.” Not the sort of question to ask Jesus, though the poor man could have been fighting for his rights in a family feud. Jesus replies, “My friend, who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?” In fact, his quarrel has nothing to do with Jesus. However, our Lord uses that situation to teach the crowd some important truths about avarice and the love of material things. We are reading Luke’s Gospel, (Lk 12: 13-21). He begins by saying, “Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.” Jesus talks about avarice of any kind, for there are, indeed, many kinds of avarice, including spiritual avarice, when we keep for ourselves the good things that God has given or taught us to share with others.
Jesus then tells them a parable about a rich man, who keeps storing his grain and all his goods and hording so much that he has to build bigger and better barns and storerooms, but then, suddenly, he dies and has to leave it all behind. In fact, on the night he dies, God appears to him and says, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?” Now the rich man isn’t criticised for being rich or for setting aside some of his harvest for a rainy day, but because he wasn’t practising prudence and stewardship, rather he was steeped in avarice, greed and selfishness. What a sad picture the man paints. Instead of doing good, he becomes obsessed with the possession of material things. Frankly, we could compare this with President Putin and the war on Ukraine. Russia is a vast country, laden with natural resources and immense power, culture and wealth, including its rich tapestry of peoples. Did he really need to take over Crimea and now invade vast tracts of Eastern, Central and Southern Ukraine? He is just like that man in the parable. He, too, will die and face judgement. Political and nationalistic avarice and greed are grave sins, let alone causing the death of tens of thousands of soldiers, both Ukrainian and Russian. Mothers on both sides weep the loss of their sons and wives the loss of their husbands. Children no longer have fathers. And for what?
Jesus ends by saying, “So it is, when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.” Jesus wants his disciples and all those who listen to his teaching to grow in virtue and holiness. All wealth, all possessions will come to an end, great empires ultimately fall and cultures disappear, but an act of generosity and kindness, of forgiveness and reconciliation will be written in the book of life and not forgotten for all eternity. Let us pray for the grace to store up treasure in the sight of God and to follow the teaching and example of Jesus in all things. Lord, free us from avarice of all kinds. Amen.
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